A Chance to Live Again
by RedasFIRE
Summary: And I thought life was hard the first time... Now I have to go through it all again, and as someone as important as this, no less! (OC Self Insert)
1. Prologue

**If you are reading this; thank you, and enjoy. **

**Future chapters will be longer, but since when was a prologue long?**

* * *

A Chance to Live Again

00

Prologue

* * *

"Who would have thought that a girl like you could be so bold?"

"Oh, shut it," I groaned, making my way up the tree, "It's not like I want to do this, you forced me to!"

"Hey, don't go all tsundere on me," I reached the branch, and opened my mouth to make a comeback, "And I can see up your skirt."

I felt my face heat up to a temperature hotter than that of the surface of the sun.

"H-Hey!"

The boy laughed, "Don't worry, I didn't look."

_Damn him..._

I grabbed the reason that I climbed up the tree for, promptly throwing it at his face, "Here's your ball, idiot."

"Yeah, thanks," He caught it before it hit.

I let out a sigh, and begun the long decent down the tree.

"I didn't think that you'd be wearing pink..."

"Wha-"

The comment caused me to misplace a step, setting in motion a cascading effect of each limb losing grip on the brown bark of the tree. Next thing I knew, branches were speeding past me as I stared at the green of the canopy below.

Or was it above?

Was I falling?

A quick, sharp pain that barely lasted a microsecond jabbed at the back of my neck, before a shroud of darkness enveloped my vision.

After that, there was nothing.

No sound.

No smell.

No sight.

_Nothing._

Nothing, aside from a sudden intense feeling of warmth that shot throughout my body. I could feel a cloth wrap around me, followed by myself being lifted up by a huge pair of hands.

"She's a girl..."

By this point, I had opened my eyes. To no avail, however, as everything was blurred beyond recognition. I was being moved around, but my protests came out in nothing but wails. The colour I could attribute to that of skin covered my vision. I could tell that I was facing someone now.

"Mikoto..."

The feminine voice cooed, though I wasn't able to understand what she was saying.

"I hope you have a good life, Mikoto."

* * *

**So, I thought to myself:**

**'I want to make a fanfic that no one's done before (for Index).'**

**And then I wrote about the first thing that came to my mind.**

**That's the story of how this story came to be.**

**Let's see how it goes.**


	2. Realisation

**Here's the first chapter! I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

A Chance to Live Again

01

Realisation

* * *

The first few moments of my life was spend as usual; wailing and screaming. Apparently I was a loud baby. Not that I knew at the time, but my mother told me that she was always able to calm me simply by smiling. I wasn't sure that I believed that, though.

I wasn't the most active of babies. That was something that would change when I was older, but most of my infancy was spent making sure that my mother wouldn't put me down. That time was also spend familiarising myself with my limbs, getting used to moving them. Doing so would usually lead to the odd sensation of familiarity, as if I'd already done it before.

At around the six month mark, I'd started to learn to walk and by my first birthday, I was taking proper, albeit attentive, steps around the house. It was only slightly longer for me to pick up the language that was being spoken all around, once again a feeling of familiarity coming with it. Though still unable to speak, I set about repeating most of the simple words my parents spoke to me with. I'd pay close attention to any conversation around me, to the point that I would forget about most other things in favour of learning this language everyone spoke.

The next few years went by fairly quickly, nothing _too _interesting happening until when I was around six years old. I had been enrolled into an elementary school in a place well away from where we lived.

"Mama," I asked when we had finally finished packing, "Where are we going?"

"To Academy City," She said.

And then something clicked.

There was something about that name that made me go silent in awe.

Academy City wasn't the name of a real place, it was the name of a fictional one.

Not to mention, I had remembered why I kept getting that feeling of familiarity as I did certain things. It was because I had already done them before.

I had died.

Yet, I was still alive.

I could hear.

I could smell.

I could see.

Each individual sense was still there.

The grip on my stuffed Gekota doll strengthened.

Wide-eyed, I looked up to my mother, which did nothing but add to my astonishment. She looked awfully similar to a certain girl's mother. With a look of her own, she crossed her arms around her chest.

"What is it, Mikoto-chan?"

_That name..._

Everything finally pieced together in my six year old mind. I had died, but I had been reborn. That part was simple enough, but what came after made things complicated.

I had been reborn, yes, but where I had been reborn into was that of a certain series that I knew a fair bit about.

And finally, there was _who_ I had been reborn into.

In full, I'd been reincarnated into the world of To Aru Majutsu no Index...

... As Misaka Mikoto?!

* * *

A dam's worth of questions flooded into my head after I made the mind-shattering discovery, but the one that dominated most was _why_?

Why me and why someone as important as Misaka? Nothing special had happened to me in my old life. I was your typical sixteen year old Japanese girl who lead an average life in an average school, who spent too much time watching, reading and writing anime. The only thing that you could say wasn't normal were my grades, which even then weren't something crazy like 100's on every test.

I had tried my hardest to not be the centre of attention, making sure that I'd not be famous and have a ridiculously long biography about me made. I never expected to be reincarnated into such a world where there was magic and esper abilities.

Then there was the question of why I remembered. If I wasn't mistaken, most people who were reincarnated have no recollection of their past, didn't they? Wasn't that how it worked? If so, what was it that made me so special as to remember _my _past life? Adding the fact that I _was _Misaka Mikoto only made the sea grow bigger.

First things first, I needed to find out how far away from the beginning of the timeline I was. I was six, which meant that I was eight years away from the year of the story's beginning.

How was I going to affect it? I didn't know. In fact, the simple notion of me even _being _one of the main characters could make the story completely different. Since I knew that I wouldn't be at the exact place Misaka was at the same times, I'd miss a few events no matter what I did. Heck, maybe I wouldn't meet _any _of the others.

I guess it could be considered a good thing that I was wrong there.

* * *

During the trip to Academy City, the realisation suddenly hit me; I had _died_. Sure, one month may have been quite some time between finding out that I was dead and reacting to it, but I was focused more on the fact that I was alive.

This brought with it a long period of mourning. To be specific, I mourned my old life. My friends and family, who I had grown to love, didn't exist anymore. It could be interpreted as the roles being reversed; this universe was real, and the old universe was fictional. Even so, I wondered how they were - were they coping with the grief? - and I wondered what I would do.

I had been given two choices; I could choose to live in the past and mourn my entire life, or I could choose to take this second chance and make the best out of it. After a short deliberation, I settled with the latter. If I had been given the chance to live once more, I'd make the best out of it, no matter how big the burden of my name was.

This decision took so long to come to me that I had taken all of my free time encompassed by it. I was now in elementary school, which also meant I was enrolled in the Power Curriculum Program.

There was a little worry with whether or not I'd keep Misaka's ability status as a child prodigy, but that was quickly extinguished when I got my results back from the System Scan. I was established as a Level 1, an Electromaster and a child prodigy. Or, I assumed I was considered a child prodigy, since I was the only student to attain Level 1. Either way, that was good.

As I had suspected, the scientists came to me, asking for my DNA map. Though, a blank in my memory had me left in the dark as to why they wanted it.

"What's he doing?" I asked, watching one male trying to move with the parallel bar's assistance.

"He has a disease called muscular dystrophy," The scientist responded.

The man fell to the ground, causing me to try and reach out for him. He looked pained, and it was making my heart hurt watching his futile efforts to move.

"It's a genetic disease that causes your muscles to get weaker. He was born with this terrible disease, and he fights like this every day to take back what the disease has robbed him of."

As he spoke, the man struggled to get back to his feet, sweat beginning to trickle down his face. He managed to make it back up, but with great effort. It was certainly saddening.

"No matter how hard he tries, he cannot be cured," The scientist spoke with a firm voice, "There is no effective therapy known to current medical science. With your power, we might be able to save him and all others who suffer from the same disease."

_I... can help?_

The scientist finally turned to face me.

"Won't you grant us access to your DNA map?" He asked.

"I..."

I turned to face the poor man one more time, quickly turning back once the corners of my eyes started to blur. There was no chance I'd be crying.

With a sight such as depressing as that, and with the knowledge that my DNA would be able to help people like this, I couldn't do anything but say the one word...

"Okay!"

... One word that held an unbelievable amount of meaning.

"Thank you," He said with a smile, holding out is hand.

I smiled back, taking his in mine.

"If it helps them," I started, "I'll do it. For sure!"

I was certain. It was what they wanted to do with my DNA map. They were going to help everyone who had the disease. They'd cure them all, with my help. It made my heart warm, knowing that it was me who helped stop a disease that plagued poor people like him.

Because that was what they wanted to do with it, right?

* * *

There wasn't much more that happened during my time in elementary school. I had started wearing shorts, though probably for a different reason than Misaka's. I had basically died because of a comment about the colour of my... you know... and, as unlikely as it was, I wasn't going to risk that happening again.

At the time, I was in my fifth year of elementary school. I had attained Level 3, and my grades were looking good. Things weren't going too bad, but one thing I did lack was friends. It was kind of strange; since everyone at this point were only around Level 0 or Level 1, I had gained a reputation in the surrounding area for being 'gifted'. You'd think that'd make everyone want to be my friend, right?

Well, you aren't wrong. I could barely get through a day without at least three people asking to be my friend. At first I had accepted every offer, but as time passed, it got a little annoying, and I tried to get out of it as much as I could. Those I did accept turned out to only be trying to be my friend to ride the popularity wave, since they'd get a standing in the school if they were able to announce that they were 'Misaka Mikoto's friend'.

I'm not saying that there weren't genuine attempts at being my friend, but if there were, those would just be ignored along with the majority of which that wanted friendship for the status. In the end, the line between genuine and fake had blurred, so each offer was rejected no matter what they'd say.

The popularity was only school-wide, but it still had managed to leave me isolated and blocked any attempt from befriending others.

At least until a certain Wednesday...

I'd been doing the usual, eating alone at my desk. It was something I was used to, and the silence had slowly begun to be something I enjoyed.

"Uh... M-Misaka-sama,"

I flinched at the sudden noise, but chose to ignore it in favour of eating my lunch.

"Misaka-sama..."

The feminine voice was quieter this time, but I continued to ignore whatever the girl was trying to get my attention for.

She tried a few more times, each quieter than the last, as if she were starting to lose confidence in herself.

Which wasn't really something I wanted her to do, so I spared her the time of day and turned around.

"Yes?" I asked, a somewhat annoyed tone I failed to cover coming out with it.

"O-oh, a-am I annoying you? I-I-I'm sorry!" She quivered, as if she were about to cry.

"No!" I quickly attempted to correct, "No! You're not annoying me at all!"

Her mouth twitched up into a smile, so I assumed that it worked.

"Do..." She let out a breath, "Do you mind if I sit with you?" She blurted out, probably to get it over and done with.

I pondered for a moment.

_I know it goes against my rule of declining, but..._

My eyes wondered up to her face, staring into her intense green eyes. She wore a pink hair clip in her wavy jet black hair that extended down to her shoulders.

_She doesn't look like one of them..._

I sighed, "Fine..."

Her smile widened to the point of being almost ear to ear, as she pulled a chair out of basically nowhere. She landed on the chair with a thud.

"I can't believe it!" She exclaimed, all evidence of her being a quiet and reserved girl disappearing from sight, "I'm actually sitting and eating lunch with Misaka-sama!"

The change in personality was rather sudden, I still hadn't managed to process it all by the time I realised that she was still talking.

"... And now they'll go, 'Oh my gosh! Is that Yukimura Suzume with _the _Misaka-sama? She's sooo cool!'! Don't you think it's great, now that I won't be bullied by everyone for being a shut-in? Don't you?"

"Huh?" I blinked, "Oh, uh... sure... I've got to go do something I've just remembered I need to do..." I stood up, making my way to the door. This girl was too weird.

"Ahh? B-but if you're not there, I'll keep getting bullied..." With the flick of a coin, she reverted back to being a shy one.

"I'm _really _sorry, but I have to do this thing..."

Closing the door behind me, I began on my way to who-knows-where.

* * *

**So, how did you think this chapter went? It's great to know everyone's view.**

****Honestly, I didn't expect to get this much of a response from a 430 word prologue. It's great to see that you're all willing to give this a chance.****

**Here's hoping you stick around for the next chapter! I******** hope I can make this story live up to your expectations.******


	3. The Vending Machine

**Although it took a bit longer than I had hoped for, here's chapter 2!**

* * *

A Chance to Live Again

02

The Vending Machine

* * *

I couldn't help but stretch as I made my way through the large arches that formed the entrance to the school building. After all, I had just spent six whole hours going through the transfer procedures for enrolling in Tokiwadai Middle School.

"Jeez, that was really boring," I announced, though no one was there to hear it.

Sure, I was certainly exited. In my past life, I constantly dreamt of being a student of the great and prestigious Tokiwadai. It had never occurred to me that one day, I'd _actually _be doing just that. But I didn't expect for there to be a stupidly long and dragged out procedure for transferring into it.

By the time I had made it to the school entrance, my excitement had grown once more.

I was going to be a student of Tokiwadai, and that was cool. And with that said, I needed to keep my cool. I stopped at the gate, patting down the tan-coloured vest that was adorned over the white dress shirt. The pocketed skirt was a sort of cooled, dim grey. These made up what was the uniform for the school.

If I were only allowed to use one word to describe this uniform, It'd probably be something along the lines of 'upper-class' and 'cool'. Honestly, wearing it gave me a general feeling of being wealthy.

"I can see why she always wears this!" I grinned, "It's just as cool as I thought it'd be."

"Why are you talking to yourself?"

I quickly spun to the direction of the voice. In front of me stood another girl from Tokiwadai, short blonde haired with a set of light blue eyes. She wore black goggles with golden rims, though they were currently around her neck.

"Oh?" It was almost as if I could see a spark of recognition pulse through her, "You're Misaka Mikoto, aren't you? The Level 4?"

She knew me? I wasn't sure I had done anything that would make people know me yet.

"Yeah, but..." I brought a hand up and pointed to myself, "How do you know me?"

"You've worked your way to Level 4 from Level 1, haven't you?" She asked a question of her own. I wasn't sure if she was dodging the question or if she just didn't hear me.

"Well, yeah," I could feel myself puff out my chest out of instinct, which pretty much confirmed my suspicions of my pride coming into this life with me, "And I'm planning to get to Level 5."

"That's pretty ambitious," She snorted, "You know that there are only five people who have reached Level 5, don't you?"

"Soon there'll be six," I responded almost instantly, but she continued waving it off.

Semi-literally, as she was waving her hand in front of her face, "Sure, sure..." She grinned, "Come get me when that happens."

"Maybe I will."

I turned away, taking a small step before stopping. It wasn't that I didn't want to leave so much as it was that I didn't know where to go. I couldn't remember there ever being a map of the school layout drawn, and even if I could, I doubted that I'd be able to recall any fine details.

She seemed to have noticed this, because the next few words that came out of her mouth were, "You don't know where to go, do you?"

A sheepish grin creeping up my face, I nodded without making eye contact. She let out a sigh and then motioned for me to follow her.

And thus, the grand tour of Tokiwadai Middle School had begun!

* * *

By the end of the tour, night had already descended upon the scientific city-state of Academy City. Goggles girl finished it up by showing me the front of the dormitory I'd be staying in.

"Sadly, this is where we must part ways," She said, "Since I'm in the interior dormitory, I've got to go back to it before curfew is up."

With a wave, we began walking in different directions. I stopped though, this time for something I should have asked at first.

"Wait!" I called, and she stopped, "What's your name?"

She brought a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"Don't you think you should have asked that before we started the tour or something?" She groaned. I didn't blame her, this really was something that should have been done already.

"It's..." She started.

The sound of a passing car managed to drown out her voice, leaving her with nothing but moving lips, and me with no name. To add to the annoying moment, she quickly bowed in apology and then ran off, presumably back to her dorm.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I grumbled, "Of all things that could have happened, that happened?!"

Before I made any further complaints to the air, I forced myself into checking into the dormitory. I had been assigned to room 208 and when I opened the door to the room, an angry face was staring directly at me.

"Who the hell are you?" She growled, definitely not happy with the new found presence in the room.

"Ah, I'm Mi-"

"Actually," The shoulder-length brown haired girl interrupted, "I don't care. Just tell me what the hell you're doing here."

"I... This is my room," I said, taken aback as to how foul mouthed this girl was.

Her glare didn't waver for what felt like hours, until she finally moved to sit down on the right side bed.

"This sucks..." She muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, just shut it and don't talk to me." She leaned back, turning to face the wall.

Slowly, I crept over to the bed on the left of the room. This girl was rude, and I remembered why. Misaka's original roommate wasn't what you'd call "friendly" with her. Until Shirai-san comes along, it was going to be rough for me. Unless, of course, I somehow manage to befriend Foul-Mouth girl, which was unlikely given her attitude. Even so, I did give myself a little reminder in the back of my head to attempt to befriend her.

I sat down on the bed in a way that wouldn't make any sound, an irrational feeling inside my gut telling me it was the best course of action. She had gone to sleep, and I didn't want to be the one waking her up with a squeak of the bed.

A moment of stillness passed, before I decided it was all right for me to go to sleep. I was tired, all that walking around had been more draining than I thought it'd be. Sleep caught me before I managed to realise that I was still in my uniform.

* * *

"Hmm..."

I couldn't help but stare at the names of the drinks in the vending machine. Sure, there were somewhat sensible ones like "Strawberry Oden" or "Blackbean Cider", but then you come to ones such as "Condensed Nutritional Beverage SURVIVAL+1"... I just couldn't think of what went through the minds of the manufacturers when they decided upon a name like that.

Though...

... I couldn't help but wonder what they tasted like. I slipped my hand into my wallet and took out a bill. Inserting it into the machine and pressing for a "Duel Ranch Speciality Pork-Cutlet Sandwich Drink", something that sparked in my memory caused me to freeze in place.

"Oh no..."

You see, there was a certain vending machine that enjoyed eating bills. In fact, it ate one of the old Misaka's 10,000 yen bills. With a swift movement of the hand, I reached out for the bill, trying to stop it before it got eaten by the vending machine. Too late, the bill was taken and no beverage given. The vendor made a strange sound, as if it were mocking me.

I groaned. That was something that I had meant to avoid, yet I somehow managed to completely forget about it.

Wait, how much did it eat?

I once again took out my wallet.

"..."

My knuckles whitened as I clenched my fist. I sent a glare at the vending machine, though it probably wasn't intimidated by it. With a grunt, the vending machine rattled as I kicked it in anger.

"I was trying to avoid this!" I growled.

The sound of metal hitting metal reverberated through the air for a short moment. Flipping open the flap, there was a green juice can that had fallen from the top. I took it out.

That reminded me, didn't juice cans fall with a little force? It'd be nice if my waning memory on certain things didn't always come back to me right after I had done it...

The drink fizzed a little when I opened it.

I took a sip.

"Mngg."

The awkward noise escaped my mouth as I repulsed from the taste and spat out the content of the drink. It was _horrible_.

"Pweh! Who the heck could possibly like this?!"

I turned the can in my hand to read the label. It read: "Super Health Supplement Guarana Green Juice".

A hand met my forehead. _Seriously, who comes up with these names?_

Throwing the can into the bin, I made a mental note never to drink that again.

* * *

**With nothing to say in this Author's Notes, I hope you'll be here for the next chapter!**


	4. Level 5

**Chapter 3 is here! Enjoy.**

* * *

A Chance to Live Again

03

Level 5

* * *

"Oi."

I flinched at the sudden noise from behind me. Quickly spinning on my heels, I ended up looking at the face of my 'roommate'. You couldn't really say we were mates, so it'd be more fitting to just call her my 'room'.

_Wait, that doesn't sound right..._

"Idiot, are you just gonna stand there and block the hallway or are you gonna move?" Her voice was clearly agitated.

"Well," I started, "You could always walk _around _me."

This was a rather wide hallway, after all. If you were to do so, you'd probably be able to fit at least eight students if you lined them up from one wall to the other.

Her fist rose up into the air, quite white at the knuckles, "The hell did you just say?"

I wasn't planning on resorting to violence, but when her fist enveloped itself in fire, I had no choice. A bluish-white spark cackled from my bangs as I shot a low voltage spark at her hand. I could see her muscles tense up from it, though the fire didn't go away. Since the voltage was low, it didn't take any time for her to shrug off what little effects it had.

"THAT'S IT!" Her flaming fist flew forwards, aimed directly at my face. I responded instantly with an electrified fist of my own.

Neither connected, however, as I found myself unable to move as both our arms were forcefully halted mid-swing.

"What the-?" It seemed that my 'roommate' was having the same problem.

"Now, now," A familiar voice cooed, "No need to fight."

Since I couldn't turn my head to see who it was, the best I could manage was looking out the corner of my eyes. All that I could make out was that she worse black clothing of some sort.

"After all," The girl continued, "The System Scan's coming up in a few hours. You don't want to waste your energy now, do you?" Her tone of voice was a strange mix of commanding and soothing. It was kind of scary.

"Just..." My roommate interrupted, struggling to move her mouth, "Just let me hit her once!"

"If that's how it's going to be..." This person was really starting to scare me.

I felt her grip loosen around my wrist, and she let go of my roommate completely. Her charge suddenly started back up once more, but I was unable to move even the slightest. All I was able to do was brace myself for the incoming impact.

It never came, with my roommate suddenly disappearing from sight and being replaced by the woman in the black suit. Now that she was in full view, I could tell that this was probably a teacher; she was too... _mature _for a student.

_Well, excluding_ her, _that is..._

She turned to face me, her countenance carrying a questioning look. I tried to speak up to answer the question that would obviously be asked, but the only thing that came out was a sort of squeak. It felt as if my jaw was locked up, though there wasn't any pain that was usually associated with it.

Her looked evolved into a confused one, followed by realisation as she looked down to the hand that held onto my wrist, "Oh! Sorry," She exclaimed, letting go and taking as step out of the way.

The whole of my previous movement started back up, my fist instantly regaining the momentum it had lost. It connected with air and I took a few steps to keep up with it, stopping about a metre ahead of my original position.

"Heh?" Was all that was heard as I spun around to face her, "Wha... what was that?"

"What was... what?" The confused look returned.

"_That!_ You grabbed us and we froze up _completely!_"

This woman seemed to enjoy bouncing between facial expressions, bearing a look of realisation once more, "Oh, that."

I waited a moment for her to continue, but she didn't.

"What was it?"

"What was what?"

A spark of frustration rippled across my bangs.

"Ah, just kidding!" She brought up her hands, "That's my ability."

"Your ability?" I repeated for confirmation.

She nodded, "It restricts the muscle movement of anyone I touch. I think the scientists refer to it as 'Motion Stop', or something."

"Motion Stop..." Nothing came to mind when I said the name. But then again, it was a certainty that I'd eventually encounter an ability that hadn't been shown in the actual series.

Since this was the case, I felt a need to learn more about it. Starting with a simple question, "What Level are you?"

The woman placed a finger on her chin, as if she actually had to _remember _what Level she was, "Level... 4," She finally responded, a short pause in between the word and number.

I wasn't wrong with my guess of her being around Level 4. The ability to stop someone from moving was certainly a strong one, and since she was able to do it with more than one person at once, she was definitely strong.

"Is it active or passive?"

"Active," She answered this one fairly quickly, "I have to want them to stop for them to stop."

"I see..."

"Before you get to asking any more questions, I'd like to know what you two were doing," She stated abruptly.

Knowing that she'd just changed the subject, I inwardly waved good-bye to my chance to learn more about her power.

I hesitated, "Well... I don't really know what just happened."

That was probably the most honest answer I could have given.

She examined me up and down with her brown eyes, "Right. If that's the case, I'll ask your friend."

When the woman turned to where my 'friend' had flown off to, I couldn't help but follow her.

What we had expected was the 'friend' of mine to be standing up by now; maybe even moving, but instead we were welcomed by the sight of an unconscious body. She was awkwardly strewn out across the floor with her limbs in the sort of position you had when starting a snow angel. Except, this was more like...

... Like a _pain _angel.

I chuckled at my crappy wordplay before receiving a slap to the back of my head.

"Ow!"

"Don't laugh at other people's pain," The woman stated firmly. Her annoyed expression softened and she sighed, "Look, you should probably be heading to class right about now."

"Huh?" I gave her a bemused look, then she tapped the watch on her right hand.

10:59...

It took a few seconds to click, "Ah!" I shrieked, quickly picking up the dropped briefcase and running off to where I was meant to be.

* * *

"All right, Misaka Mikoto," The female scientist drawled, "You said that you wanted to show us this 'Railgun' of yours."

I nodded enthusiastically.

After all, this was the day that the old Misaka became a Level 5.

This would be the day that _I _became a Level 5.

Though, this would also be the day that I first try the railgun.

Old Misaka had probably put in a lot of practice at this point, and I had not even once tried it.

Why?

Well, mostly because I was afraid of messing it up a blasting a hole through something important. I had planned to try it at least once before today, but I had completely forgotten to do so. Until it was too late, that is.

I really hated my memory some times.

The slightly damp floor was cold against my bare feet. Currently, I was in Tokiwadai's P.E. uniform, as System Scan was technically a sporting event. I wasn't wearing any shoes because it was against school rules to wear them next to the pool; even the scientists were prohibited from doing as such.

I took a deep breath, reaching into my skirt pocket and pulling out the sole arcade coin I had. If I screwed this up, the _entire _storyline of the series would change drastically. Something I simply couldn't afford to happen.

"Are you ready?" There was a complete lack of excitement in the scientist's voice, as if she had seen everything the world had to offer a million times over.

I nodded my head.

"Then proceed."

I moved into the stance that the old Misaka usually did; right arm extended with the body facing the side, and flicked the coin up into the air.

My eyes closed with an intense concentration as a cackling sound filled the air. My brows would have been beading with sweat, but the heat of the electricity instantly evaporated any form of precipitation. I began to focus all of the electricity into forming parallel currents on both sides of my arm.

Opening my eyes, I aimed my arm downwards to the pool and it felt as if time slowed to a stop as the coin reached my thumb.

_This is it... _I thought, _If I screw this up, I screw everything up._

With a subconscious smile making its way onto my lips, I had one final thought before flicking.

_I guess I just won't screw this up._

A loud bang, and an orangey-yellow light with water flying countless metres into the air was the spectacle that played out before my eyes._  
_

Huge waves rippled through the length of the pool while the downpour of pool water drenched me, along with any teachers or scientists in the area.

It took a long time for the water to settle, and even longer for anyone, myself included, to react to what I had just done. I was frozen in the firing position. Not because of an ability, but because of the _sheer amazement _of the destructive power I had just unleashed onto the pool.

"T-that right now..." The scientist spoke with a wavering voice, "What...?"

"I..." Ended up being the only thing I could say.

Probably the entire population of the school had gathered around to find out just what had happened, some wet even though they were nowhere near the pool.

"F-for now," She'd walked right up to me and continued with a tone that just felt out of character for her, "I'll... class you as a Level 5."

"... 5?"

I'd finally regained control of my body, and turned to face her properly.

"With what has just happened, there is no way I can write you off as a Level 4," She too had seemed to regain some composure, "I'll come back in a few weeks with a proper evaluation of your 'Railgun', but for now you shall be known as the Number Six Level 5."

She quickly collected her equipment and scurried off to wherever, leaving me to not realise that I had just become a Level 5.

In fact, I hadn't comprehended just that until I received the card telling me I was the next day, which was pretty sad if you ask me.

When the 'proper evaluation' came, I received an official classification of the third ranked Level 5 of Academy City with an epithet of the Railgun.

It left me happy for quite some time.

I had just taken a huge step in maintaining the storyline, after all.

* * *

**So, how did this chapter go?**

**It took so long for me to write it because I just didn't know how to go about writing it. ****I eventually managed to get it done by basically forcing myself into sitting down and actually thinking about what I wanted to do.**

**With that being said, I don't know what else I should put here.**

**See you in the next chapter!**


	5. The Entrance Ceremony

**Merry (slightly early) Christmas! My present to you is chapter 4!**

* * *

A Chance to Live Again

04

The Entrance Ceremony

* * *

After downing a can of Coconut Cider, I sat down for a little rest on a nearby bench.

Rumours of the new Level 5 had spread quickly, and after being confirmed in a public statement that was broadcast internationally, I had suddenly gone from locally known to global celebrity status within the span of three weeks. My once free schedule had been flooded with interviews, demonstrations, radio shows and even autograph sessions.

Put simply, the last couple of weeks had been really tiring.

"Huh..." I tilted my head back to look up at the white fluffs of clouds in the sky, "Who knew that being a Level 5 meant gaining the workload of an idol..."

_Good thing it seems to die down in the future... _I thought, recalling my memories of the timeline. It was obvious that the real Misaka had a lot of free time on her hands, and she had been a Level 5 for about two years at the start of the main story.

I closed my eyes, my lips arching upwards into a frown, "Even with this knowledge, I still don't know how long this will last."

"Sounds like your having a rough time."

The unexpected voice made me jump. Nearly the entirety of my body jerked to face the girl as I got into an awkward seated defensive pose. I relaxed when I saw her face, though.

"Oh, it's just Goggles Girl."

She frowned, "What do you mean "it's just Goggles Girl"? And the names Uwaki, by the way. Chishiki Uwaki."

Ignoring her annoyed stature, I let out a sigh, "Uwaki doesn't sound like something you'd name your child."

"Well, my parents did!" She puffed out her cheeks, "Jeez... and to think that I was going to give you some advice."

My ears perked up at the word, "Advice?"

"About how you can find some free time," She spun on her heels, taking a step away from me, "But I guess you don't want to hear it."_  
_

I shot upwards and grabbed her shoulders, spinning her back around to face me, "Tell me!"

She looked at me with a sort of pleased smile, patting me on the head in a strange, yet smoothing manner, "It's simple, really..."

"Just ignore them!"

I gave her a blank look, "Ignore them...?"

"Yeah, ignore them."

I sighed once again, turning around and making my way back to the bench.

"I mean, after all..." She started, "It probably isn't relevant to the plot,right?"

_Isn't relevant to the plot, huh?_

She might have been right; the novels didn't elaborate on her celebrity status, it really only mentioned it at best.

"I guess you're right, I'll try it then."

"Great!" Though I wasn't looking at her, I could tell that she was happier with my response than she should have been.

_It probably isn't relevant to the plot..._

Then it clicked.

"The plot?" the sudden realisation had me spin back to face her, asking, "What plot?" as I did so.

But she was no longer there. Instead, I received a few odd looks from passer-byers as I questioned the air.

The sudden mention of a 'plot' had me in my own bubble of questions for the entire day. "What did she mean by 'plot'? Is she talking about _the _plot? Does she know anything about it?" - were a few of the questions involved.

It was a huge possibility that I was over thinking it, though. It could have just been a strange choice of words on her part. Even so, that comment did raise some suspicious flags around her.

* * *

"Tokiwadai is known as one of the five elite schools in the entirety of Academy City, as well as the most renowned girls' school in the world," The principal's voice reverberated throughout the stadium as she began her speech. All of the 200 or so students were seated on a chair, either listening intently or waiting for the opening ceremony to end.

"And, as such, it is considered a great honour for a student to be enrolled into the school. We are sought-after by most, if not all young girls who wish to be the very best. However, we accept only those who hold an ability ranked Level 3 or higher, and we possess an extremely difficult entrance exam. As you are all seated here, that means that you have passed, and that fact should be held close to your hearts," She extended her hands outwards, with elegant applause arising from the crowd of students.

"The future ahead of each and every one of you is bright. You all possess the talent to _be _the very best, and be so like no one ever was! With this said, I welcome you all, both new and old, to the new year of Tokiwadai Middle School!" Once again, the applause of elegance sounded off throughout the stadium.

After a short pause, presumably waiting for the applause to die down, the principal continued, "I am sure that, by now, you are all aware of the faculties this school has to offer, as well as the rules we have in place. If, by chance, you don't know certain things, your homeroom teachers will go over everything in detail, answering every question you may have. Now, please welcome the current Student Council president; Kirameki Saika."

I was fairly certain that the applause was _much _more lively this time. On the stage entered a bishoujo with straight black hair running down to her waist, a trail of sparkles following her.

When she turned to face the crowd, squeals of pure ecstasy rung throughout the students around me. It was... awkward.

She seemed to scan the stadium, as if searching for someone, before resting her green eyes on me and giving me a quick smile, not that I knew why.

In that instant I felt a cold chill run down my back, as if many people were giving me a death glare or something.

"As we move into the new year," She said, facing back to the centre of the audience, "It is our duty, as seniors, to welcome and embrace the juniors with open arms..."

"I wouldn't mind being embraced by Kirameki-sama!"

This was around the point where I shut the crowd out of my mind.

"... As our predecessors did to us. We have to take care of them, nurturing them as if they were our own..."

By the end of her speech, I was getting rather bored. After a few more speeches, the principal returned for a parting note.

"As you are aware, the first year cohort possesses two students who have managed to attain the status of Level 5," She looked to someone, and then to me, "Shokuhou Misaki, Misaka Mikoto. Please rise."

After brief contemplation, I rose, with another student rising soon after. I looked to her, and kept... looking. This was Shokuhou Misaki. To put it simply, she was much, much, _much _more beautiful in real life than she was in the pictures. It took _a lot _of willpower not to squeal like a fangirl and run over to hug her._  
_

Our eyes met, and I felt my face heat up ever-so-slightly, so I quickly turned and faced the front.

"Take note, as these two girls are living proof that the impossible can be achieved, and that Tokiwadai is the place to achieve it. For example, Misaka Mikoto here started off as a Level 1," she pointed to me, and I gave a sheepish smile in return as everyone turned to face me, "With an unrivalled determination, she has reached that pinnacle known as Level 5, and now stands before as bearing the rank of Number Three. This does not mean that it is easy. Only six people out of 2.1 million have reached it. As such, Shokuhou Misaki is not to be discredited for her rank of Number Five..."

The opening ceremony continued to drag on for what felt like forever. It was a whole three hours from start to finish, and all we did was sit on a chair and listen to many speeches.

It was boring. Very, very boring.

After that, we had a few classes that introduced us to what we would be learning. Everything was pretty normal for a middle school, but there was this continuous feeling of... properness, maybe?

By the end of the day, I was tired.

I lied down on my bed, having little energy left after enduring so much boredom.

Slowly, my eyes closed, enveloping me in its welcoming arms that took the form of sleep.

* * *

**So, I originally intended to introduce Kuroko in this chapter.**

**However, I somehow managed to forget that she was a year younger, so I had to change everything.**

**It'd be great if you're here for the next chapter!**


End file.
